ZIP 50311 vs ZIP 50312

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50311 (Des Moines, IA) and ZIP 50312 (Des Moines, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50311 has a population of 15,113 at 2,323 people per square mile, while ZIP 50312 has 15,339 at 1,044 per square mile. That difference in population size and density alone reshapes how every other metric should be interpreted — a higher-income ZIP with 1,200 residents behaves very differently from one with 45,000.

On income and education, ZIP 50311 reports a median household income of $61,957 against $92,242 in ZIP 50312, with per-capita income of $35,633 vs $67,131. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 43.5% in 50311 and 61.2% in 50312. Poverty rate reads 18.8% vs 6.8%, and unemployment 5.7% vs 2.8% — these four fields alone drive most of the difference in the scorecard grades you will see for each ZIP.

Housing separates these two ZIPs further: median home value sits at $226,500 in 50311 versus $291,900 in 50312, with median rent of $1,029 and $1,074 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 48.4% vs 63.7%. When reading the comparison table below, focus on paired metrics rather than single winners — a ZIP with lower home values and lower income is not strictly "worse" if rent-to-income ratios and commute times land in the same zone. Every value is pulled from the exact same ACS table so the two columns are genuinely comparable.